Full text of Facts on Women Workers : November 30, 1952

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A. COLLEGE OF EOSAi

November 30, 1952
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OCTOBER 1952

The civilian woman labor force, which includes both the employed and the
unemployed, was estimated at almost 20 million in October 1952.
This was a
decrease of more than a quarter million from September 1952.
Much of the loss
was due to the return of young women to school or college.

In October, as in most previous months this year, the female civilian labor
force was at approximately the same level as a year earlier.
For some groups
moderate gains have been recorded, but labor force growth generally has been
slower than in most recent years.
Among young women 18 and 19 years of age,
there has been a definite drop in the proportion who are in the labor force from 54 percent in October 1951 to 51 percent in October 1952.
The school
participation rate for this same group increased from 17 percent in 1951 to
22 percent in 1952.

October 1952__
Employment status

Total, 14 years and
over............................

Civilian nonin stitutional
population

Number

Women
Percent
of all

persons

Change
since
September
1952

Change
since
October
1951

57,930,000.

52.6

♦ 64,000

♦692,000

31.6

7,274,000

19,950,000
19,380,000
1,454,000

31.3
20.0

-280,000
-276,000
-256,000

♦ 20*000
♦176,000
-338,000

110.074,000

In labor force.............. ..
Employed............... ....................
In agriculture............
In nonagricultural
industries............... ..

63,146,000
61,862,000

54,588,000

17,926,000

32.8

- 20,000

♦514,000

Unemployed..............................

1,284,000

570,000

44-4

-

4,000

-156,000

Not in labor force............

46,928,000

37,980,000

80.9

♦344,000

♦672,000

Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
WOMEN GAIN ONE SEAT IN 83D CONGRESS

Mrs. John B. Sullivan, newly elected to the House of Representatives, is the
first woman to represent Missouri.
With the election of Grade Pfost from
Idaho, and the defeat of Reva Bo sone of Utah, the total number of women in the
House was increasd from 10 to 11.
Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine remains


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NEW MINIMUM-WAGE ORDERS
Rhode Island.—A revised Retail Trade Occupations Order in Rhode Island increases
nil wage rates.
The new order, effective November 15, 1952, and like the former

order applicable to men as well as to women and minors, establishes a ba’sic minimum
of $28 (instead of $22) for a 36- to 44-hour workweek; 70 cents an hour (formerly
55 cents) for a week of less than 36 hours, and 95 cents an hour (instead of 75
cents) for hours over 44 a week.
For each hour worked on the seventh consecutive
day, $1.25 (instead of $1.00) must be paid; and for any day on which the spread of
hours exceeds 12 or a split shift occurs, $1.00 (instead of 75 cents) must be

added to the applicable minimum wage.
Oregon.—Two wage orders in Oregon have been revised:
The Canning, Dehydrating, and
Barreling Operations Order and the Mercantile Order.
The Canning Order makes no
change in the minimum-wage rate of 66 cents an hour, but includes new standards for
seating and for lifting.
The Mercantile Order establishes 70 cents (instead of
65 cents) as the basic minimum hourly rate.
For hours over 44 a week, an emergency
permit may be issued on condition that lj times the applicable minimum rate is paid.

The new order, like the old, makes provision for two 10-minute rest periods — one
in each 4 hours of working time.
It adds, however, a new proviso:
When the time
worked in the forenoon is less than 2 3/4 hours, a double-length rest period in the
afternoon may be substituted for the morning rest.

WOMEN IN THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
At the seventh session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, women hold a
more important position than ever before.
Twenty-two nations include women in their
delegations, and there are 10 women serving as full delegates, according to
United Nations Bulletin (Nov. 15, 1952).

Among the old-timers are Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, who has been a delegate of the
United States at each of the seven sessions of the General Assembly, and

Mrs. Ulla Lindstrom, who represents Sweden for the sixth consecutive session. Also
in the United States delegation is Mrs. Edith Sampson, serving as an alternate.
The Netherlands also has two women in its delegation - Dr. Jferia Z.N. Witteveen
and Dr. Marga A.M. Klompe*. Mrs. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit is chairman of the delegation

of India for the fourth time.
Minerva Bernardino of the Dominican Republic has
attended every session of the General Assembly and has been a permanent representative
of her country since 1949.
The United Kingdom for the first time has appointed a woman not a Member of
Parliament as a full delegate to the General Assembly.
She is Mrs. Evelyn Emmet,
chairman of the women’s advisory committee of the Conservative Party.
Another new
delegate is Begum Liaquat Ali Khan of Pakistan, widow of the assassinated
Prime Minister.

COSTA RICA NAMES WOMAN TO CABINET
Dr. Emma Gamboa, Under Secretary of the Ministry of Public Education, was named
acting Minister of Education during the absence of the present minister from the
country, by a decree issued November 6 by Otilio Ulate, President of Costa Rica.

NURSE INSTRUCTORS1 COURSE IN MEXICO

A 6-month course for nurse instructors was established by the University of Mexico
to mark its 400th anniversary. ^This is the first organized college course of its
kind in Latin America, according to the Journal of the American Medical Women’s
Association (October 1952). It Is sponsored and partly financed by the World Health


Organization.
All 28 of the first group of women to enroll were graduated recently
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OCCUPATIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN, OCTOBER 1952

Between October 1951 and October 1952, the number of employed -women Increased only
176,000, and yet the numbers employed as operatives and as service workers, except
private household, increased by almost 300,000 each and clerical workers increased
by 150,000.
These increases were offset in part by a decrease of nearly 400,000
In the farm laborer and foreman group, attributed to an earlier tapering off of
the harvest season this year.
There was also a decrease of 120,000 in the number of

professional and technical workers compared with last year.

Occupation

Major Occupation Group of Employed Persons: October 1952
Employed women
Change since
Total
Percent Percent
of
employed
Number
distri­
October
1951
total
bution

Total employed.•••••••••••• 61,862,000

19,380,000

31.3

100.0

♦176.000

7,908,000
Clerical and kindred workers..
12,480,000
Operatives and kindred workers
Service workers, except
4,838,000
private household.............................
Professional, technical, and
5,222,000
kindred workers...................................
1,744,000
Private household workers.....
3,758,000
Sales workers..............................••••
3,072,000
Farm laborers and foremen............
Managers, officials and
6,390,000
proprietors, except farm....
Craftsmen, foremen, and
9,002,000
kindred workers...................................
3,946,000
Farmers and farm managers.............
3,502,000
Laborers, except farm and mine

5,240,000
3,868,000

66.3
31.0

27.0
20.0

♦152,000
♦296,000

2,390,000

49.4

12.3

♦294,000

1,872,000
1,708,000
1,476,000
1,186,000

35.8
97.9
39.3
38.6

9.7
8.8
7.6
6.1

-120,000
♦ 4,000
- 6,000
-382,000

1,054,000

16.5

5.4

- 58,000

270,000
208,000
108,000

3.0
5.3
3.1

1.4
1.1
0.6

♦ 8,000
♦ 6,000
- 18,000

Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
WOMEN TEACHERS — PERSONNEL PRACTICES

scHm-ftwH on against women teachers on the basis of sex or marital status is far
less general than in the past, the National Education Association of the United
States reports in its recent study entitled "Teacher Personnel Practices, 1950-51."
(Research Bulletin, February and April, 1952.)

Pay differentials based on sex were reported by only 20 percent of the cities in
1951, compared with 47 percent in 1941*
Wage discrimination was less common in
cities of 30,000 and over than in smaller cities.
Marriage is still a basis for discrimination in hiring women teachers, but a marked
improvement is noted.
In 1941, 95 percent of the cities reported marriage a
handicap, but only 59 percent in 1951.
An unconditional policy against appointment
of married women was reported by 58 percent of the cities in 1941 as against 8 percent
in 1951.

Termination of service as a result of marriage was also far less common in 1951 than
in 1941*
As compared with 30 percent in 1941, 90 percent of the cities reported
in 1951 that the employment status of a woman teacher already employed was not
affected by marriage.



SALARIES IN INSURANCE CARRIER OFFICES
Average weekly salaries for women in offices of insurance carriers generally ranged
from $40 to $50 in most of the 30 cities studied by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
in late 1951 and early 1952.
Comparable figures for men were available for three
occupations—accounting clerks, section heads, and underwriters.
Men’s salaries
were consistently well above women’s, especially so for section heads and under­
writers, the highest paid occupations included in the study.
Men section heads’
salaries were at least 30 percent above women’s in 19 of the 26 cities for which

comparison was possible and more than 40 percent above in 12 of these cities. In
the majority of cities men underwriters’ salaries exceeded women’s by over
20 percent.
The study included important insurance centers such as Chicago, New York, Boston,
Hartford, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, with employment totaling 287,000.
Women accounted for three-fourths or more of the employees in most localities.

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1952 HANDBOOK OF FACTS ON WOMEN WORKERS.
Women’s Bureau Bull. 242.
121 pp.
For sale at 30 cents from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing
Office, Washington 25, D. C.

EQUAL PAY FOR WOMEN; a rate based on the job, not on the sex of the worker.
Women’s Bureau Leaflet 2, revised 1952.
"Household Employment in the United States," by Frieda S. Miller.
International Labour Review (Geneva), October 1952.

WORKING WIVES AND MOTHERS, by Stella B. Applebaum.

In

Public Affairs Pamphlet

No. 188.
1952.
32 pp.
Single copies 25 cents from Public Affairs Pamphlets,
22 East 3Sth St., New York 16, N. Y.

COUNSELOR’S GUIDE TO OCCUPATIONS RELATED TO HOMEMAKING.
California State Dept.
of Education, Sacramento, Calif. 1952.
21 pp.
Mimeo.




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